Tiny Georgia telco files first network neutrality complaint

Alleges criminal theft of service charges are a harassment tactic by incumbent.

A tiny Georgia telecommunications firm has filed the first formal complaint under the Federal Communications Commission's new network neutrality rules. L2Networks charges that the Albany Water, Gas, and Light Commission (WG&L) has violated network neutrality principles by interfering with L2Networks's efforts to provide customers with VoIP service over Albany WG&L's fiber optic network.

L2Networks did not make its filing available to Ars Technica, but in a press release the telecom firm stated that Albany WG&L initially filed a criminal complaint against L2Networks alleging theft of service. Albany WG&L reportedly believes that L2Networks "should have compensated the utility for use of their fiber-optic Internet infrastructure whilst delivering Voice over IP (VoIP) services over the utilities' 'Internet backbone' to existing internet customers of the utility."

But according to L2Networks, the customer whose VoIP service gave rise to the criminal complaint "currently compensates The City of Albany Water, Gas, & Light Commission's telecommunications department for use of their fiber-optic based Internet access." L2Networks believes it is entitled to provide VoIP service to this customer without additional payments to Albany WG&L.

Locked out

In March, L2Networks president Kraig Beahn filed a complaint with the Georgia Public Service Commission detailing alleged anticompetitive conduct by Albany WG&L. L2Networks leases space from Albany WG&L to store its networking equipment and connect to Albany WG&L's network. But Beahn charged that the utility has become increasingly difficult to work with. He said L2Networks "repeatedly requested circuit relocations, disconnects, and new quotations," but that these requests were ignored.

He also charges that Albany WG&L personnel would "enter our facility without our permission in order to attempt to ascertain confidential, trade-secret information and otherwise harass the corporation and its officers."

Originally, L2Networks enjoyed 24-hour access to the facility it leased from Albany WG&L, but in January, Albany WG&L reportedly began restricting access to the facility. Beahn said he discovered this new policy when an L2Networks technician attempting to repair a "critical hardware failure" was told that the leased facility "could not be opened without the permission" of an Albany WG&L executive who could not then be reached. Beahn said that the dispute led to a 4-hour outage of L2Networks services.

"We have since been notified that we can only access the facility during their normal business hours of 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday, in direct contradiction of our agreement, invoice, and industry standard policies and procedures," Beahn wrote.

Making a federal case of it

Evidently, the Georgia Public Service Commission did not address Beahn's concerns, because he filed a complaint against Albany WG&L with the FCC this week.

The complaint would be the first handled under the commission's new network neutrality rules, which were adopted by the FCC in 2010 and took effect last year. The rules have been challenged by Verizon as exceeding the FCC's authority. That challenge is still working its way through the courts.

In its press release announcing the filing, L2Networks said that the FCC's network neutrality rules were "designed specifically to prevent these types of activities."

“We have requested the FCC’s intervention with regard to this matter to investigate the aforementioned claims while proceeding with corrective action as required or as deemed necessary by the regulatory authority to protect the national and global interest of the public and the Internet application industry alike,” the company said.

"Illegal connection"

L2Networks is no stranger to controversy. In January, Beahn was arrested for felony theft of service after Mediacom—the local cable incumbent and an L2Networks competitor—found what Mediacom characterized as an "illegal connection" to its network that had been set up by L2Networks.

"When our local team went to investigate, they discovered a Mediacom modem connected to two car batteries that was wired into our cable plant and being used to serve a nearby business. Our team contacted the local authorities. Upon interviewing the business owner, it was discovered that they had contracted with L2Networks for service," a Mediacom spokesman said back in January.

Beahn said the charges were "frivolous," but declined to give his side of the story, citing a court-imposed gag order. "We feel it's anticompetitive, and it's driven directly by an attempt to either slow us down or displace us in the local community," he told Fierce Cable.

It's not clear if the criminal complaint mentioned in Beahn's March letter (filed by Albany WG&L) are related to the charges described in January news stories (which involved Mediacom). The Dougherty County Police Department confirmed to PCWorld that WG&L had filed a complaint against L2Networks.

Because this story broke after hours, Ars was not able to reach either L2Networks or Albany WG&L for comment.

Timothy B. Lee / Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times.